This disclosure relates broadly to the field of packaging. More specifically, it relates to secure packages, especially tamper-evident packages, for collectible coins, small precious metal bullion items (such as coins, medallions, and ingots), precious stones, and the like, as well as tamper-evident packaging for other relatively small items requiring a measure of security. The term “tamper-evident,” as used herein, means that the package will be permanently and visibly altered if an attempt is made to open it and/or access its contents after the packaged article is sealed within it, thereby providing easily-discerned evidence that such an attempt has been made. In this way, undetected removal of the item from its package is made extremely difficult, if not impossible.
Tamper-evident packages are now in widespread use for collectible coins and precious metal items, due to the demand by consumers for some form of authentication that the item they wish to purchase is genuine and legitimate, and not a counterfeit or some other item of lesser value. Typically, current tamper-evident packages are in the form of hard plastic cases that are difficult to open without being so damaged as to be irreparable without visible signs of having once been opened. Such “hard-shell” cases are bulky and expensive. Moreover, ways are being found to defeat their tamper-evident features. Therefore, purchasers frequently rely on so-called “certificates of authenticity.” Such certificates, however, can be forged or otherwise faked, or they can be lost, requiring the purchaser to have the item authenticated by a specialist, entailing additional cost and inconvenience.
Consequently, there has been a need for a tamper-evident package for the above-described items and the like that is less costly to manufacture, more reliably tamper-evident, and less bulky to transport and store than is the hard shell case in common use. There is a further need for a tamper-evident package that is reliably self-authenticating, obviating (or at least reducing) the need for a separate certificate of authenticity.